


i have a girlfriend!?

by chadsuke



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 22:37:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11541849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chadsuke/pseuds/chadsuke
Summary: ino wants training from the best genin kunoichi - naturally, that means tracking down tenten.





	i have a girlfriend!?

**Author's Note:**

> written for the naruto femslash event. day two: training sessions.

Ino isn’t going to sit on her ass for the next month. Nuh-uh. Her father might think he can just give her shifts at the shop the whole time to keep her occupied when she’s not doing scattered missions – not that she minds too much, money is money – but Ino isn’t going to settle.

She needs to get stronger. She needs to match Sakura every step of the way.

(Also? Hello? The fact that only _one_ girl made it to the final round, especially when two-thirds of the kunoichi fought against each other? It’s really depressing. She’s definitely a bit peeved.)

So, after managing to beg off another shift from her dad, Ino sets off with a single purpose in mind: find Tenten. The best place, she thinks, is probably the training grounds, and she’s right: she finds Tenten training the field by the interrogation building.

For a moment, Ino just stops and stares. Tenten… kinda takes her breath away, she’s not ashamed to admit. She’s clearly been out here for awhile – she’s stripped down to her sports bra, pants rolled up, every inch of her skin covered in a shiny sheen of sweat. She’s breathing hard, her hands and feet dirty, and Ino’s pretty sure her lips are worn _raw_ from teeth.

And yet she hits the dead center of the tree every single time, no matter how many shuriken she throws at once.

“Damn,” says Ino, more than a little impressed. She then immediately ducks, dropping to her knees to avoid the weapon automatically thrown at her face.

Tenten is _horrified_. “I’m so so sorry!” She says for the fifth time, helping Ino to her feet.

The blonde grins. She wasn’t hit or hurt at all, so it’s really a nonissue for her. “It’s fine. Besides, I wanted to talk to you about that, anyway.”

Tenten frowns uncertainly, a little confused. “You… did?”

Ino nods. “You’re really good with weapons. Like, _really_ good.” Probably not something Tenten didn’t already know. “Could we, um, train together or something?”

The older genin stares at Ino like she’s never seen her before, for like a solid minute. Ino tries not to fidget, meeting her gaze steadily. “You know I’m on _Gai’s_ team, right?”

She tips her head slightly to the side, puzzled. “Uh, yes…?” That wasn’t really something she could easily miss…?

It takes Tenten a moment before she smiles, blinding and bright, and sticks out her hand. “We never really met properly, did we? I’m Shiranui Tenten.”

Ino takes it and shakes, smiling back. “Yamanaka Ino. Any relation to Shiranui Genma?”

Tenten nods. “He’s my cousin.” She snorts. “But didn’t you already know that, miss I’m-the-daughter-of-Yamanaka-Inoichi?”

The blonde pouts. “I’ll have you know I learn my secrets fair and square.”

“That’s not really a secret, but…” She smirks. Ino feels a sudden shiver of fear down her spine. “We should probably get started, then, if you want to train with me. I have to help Neji later. Are you really sure?”

What was this girl and doubting her? Ino huffed. “Yes, I am. What first?”

* * *

“I take it all back.”

A few hours later, Ino’s lying on her back, seriously contemplating the life choices that led her to this point. Tenten laughs, bending over her. “I did warn you I’m on Team Gai.”

Ino scowls, forcing her stiff, _stiff_ body into a sitting position. Every part of her _aches_. “Yeah, but I didn’t get what that _meant!_ ”

Tenten laughs again, flopping next to Ino on the grass. “Still, wasn’t that kind of fun?”

Mentally, Ino reviews the afternoon. Throwing kunai til she couldn’t move her arms, running until her legs gave out, before used as fucking _target practice_ … None of those are exactly her idea of a “good time”. But with Tenten looking at her hopefully like that… she sighs, and shrugs. “Yeah, I guess.”

The older girl grins. “Does that mean you’re up for another round?”

Ino _groans._ “Now!?”

Another laugh. “Not now! I’m not _Gai-sensei._ Tomorrow or something like that? I’m not super busy right now.”

She imagines the other is in the same boat. Scattered missions – incomplete teams meant a lot of shuffling around with other genin not in the finals, and oh boy had she met a lot of new people – and training with the single teammate that was in the finals. And given the state of Lee, the last time she went to visit him…

Even though every part of her body _screams_ ‘no’, Ino nods. “Yeah. Not tomorrow, but the day after, Wednesday? I work at the shop tomorrow.”

Tenten seems so very, very relieved. “Yeah, sure. In the morning? I’m training with Neji Wednesday afternoon.”

“On one condition.”

“Uh?”

Ino grins. “You’re treating me to lunch afterwards.”

Tenten snorts. “Alright. Fair’s fair.”

“Great. It’s a date.”

* * *

It’s about the fourth time that they meet up like this that Ino realizes this is, in fact, an actual date. Training together until they’re sweaty and dirty and grinning at each other like loons, before heading out to lunch or dinner, sometimes with one treating the other? (Tenten treats Ino when she feels bad for the rookie. Ino treats Tenten when she accidentally hits her with a shuriken.) Yeah, that’s a date.

Slightly unconventional one, perhaps – Ino hasn’t exactly pictured ‘training until she dryheaves in the corner of the field’ as part of a date – but still a date. Now, the only question is… has Tenten realized what this is? Should she read into it at all? Or is it just a coincidence?

Ino glances at her date out of the corner of her eye. Tenten’s suspiciously eyeing the contents of her sushi roll, squeezing a piece close to her eyes as she examines it, and Ino snorts.

Yeah, she’s pretty sure she has no idea. Oh, well.

* * *

“Soooo, Ino.” The blonde looks up from where she’s bundling together a bouquet, making a questioning noise. Sakura pouts, putting her elbows on the counter and putting her chin in her hands. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend?”

Ino starts, completely caught off guard. “I don’t?”

Sakura snorts. “Don’t try that with me. Tenten, Lee’s teammate. I’ve seen you guys out together a _lot._ ”

She tries not to blush, looking down at the flowers she’s fiddling with. “You can hang out and not be dating, you know. _Besides,_ I like Sasuke, remember?”

There’s a quiet moment, and when Ino finally looks up, Sakura is staring at her, dead serious. “You know,” she says, reaching out to put her hand on Ino’s shoulder. “If you don’t want to be rivals in _love,_ that’s okay.” She grins a little. “Besides, we both know that if someone’s gonna win his heart, it’ll be me, so don’t be afraid to settle for less.”

Ino knows that’s her best friend’s blessing, and she grins a little back. “Please. Tenten could beat Sasuke with one arm tied behind her back, and you know it.”

“Hmmm, I _definitely_ remember Sasuke getting to the final rounds and Tenten, you know, _not._ ”

The blonde feels her competitive spirit flaring up again, and she leans in. Sakura does the same. “Tell you what. When the chunin exams are over with, Tenten and Sasuke should spar. Winner is the better datemate.”

Sakura smirks. “You’re on.”

Ino beams at her, and goes back to carefully weaving together the arrangement, before Sakura speaks up again, a few minutes later. “…You realize you basically called Tenten your girlfriend, right?”

“Shit!”

* * *

“TentenIamsososorry.”

Tenten stares at the rather frantic Ino, wide-eyed. “Uh. For what?” The blonde looks like a mess right now, her shorn hair hanging down to just past her shoulders, clearly freaking out. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time, challenging Sakura, but then she had thought about it and oh my god-

“I just bet Sakura that you could beat Sasuke! That you’d fight him! I’m so so so sorry!”

The older genin processes that for a moment. “Sasuke… Uchiha? You mean the kid who got his clock cleaned by Lee?”

Ino stops. Blinks. “What?”

The brunette snorts. “Yep. Right before the written test, Lee challenged the Uchiha to a spar. Kicked his ass. He might’ve won his preliminary, but that’s ‘cause he got lucky against his opponent. If he faced any of _my_ team, we’d have won.”

It takes Ino a moment to reconcile that statement with her view of reality. “So… if you would have a spar with him after the finals, you would beat him?”

Tenten grins. “I could beat him with one arm tied behind my back.”

Ino starts, wide-eyed, and then grins right back. “I can’t wait to see it.”

* * *

Unfortunately, the spar doesn’t happen. They’re invaded, and Konoha falls to shambles. Ino is barely able to see Tenten – their village is just scrambling for a foothold without a Hokage – and then Sasuke _leaves_.

She’s so, so bitter about Shikamaru not taking her. Or Tenten, or Sakura or Hinata. Maybe he hadn’t realized how much Sakura and she had grown – fair. Maybe he overlooked Hinata like literally everyone else did – fair, if really annoying. But Tenten? Tenten was _strong,_ Tenten had always _been_ strong, and she probably could’ve kicked Shikamaru’s ass.

If Shikamaru hadn’t been such a sexist asshole (that was Ino’s theory on why he didn’t ask for _literally any of the Konoha genin girls to come with_ ) and asked even ONE of them, especially TENTEN, she’s absolutely positive that Sasuke would’ve been dragged home.

As it is, she doesn’t even let herself cry. She’s too busy letting Sakura weep on her shoulder.

* * *

It’s awhile before she sees Tenten again. The Rookie Nine are in shambles – no longer nine, some almost DIED – the village is still recovering, and it’s a few weeks before she manages to stumble across Tenten training again. A different ground, this time.

Ino lights up. “Tenten!”

The brunette jerks around, but doesn’t throw her shuriken this time, relaxing and recognizing the voice. “Ino!” She lets the weapons drop as the blonde runs the rest of the distance in between them, grabbing her friend in a crushing embrace. “Woah, woah!” Tenten laughs, returning the hug. “Miss me, did you?”

“Yeah!” Ino nods, pulling back enough to grin at her. They’re almost the same height – Tenten is just about two inches taller. “We haven’t gotten to train together in awhile. You can’t say you didn’t miss my wonderful company, did you?”

“Haha, no, I can’t, but…” All of a sudden, Tenten looks so terribly uncertain. “We’re still training together?” she asks, guarded hope in her eyes. “I thought that was just for the month before the final exam.”

Ino stares at her for a moment, before nodding vigorously again. “Of _course_ we are. We’re friends, aren’t we? I train with Sakura, and we can train together, too.” She grins. “But you’re paying for lunch today, after.”

Tenten beams, and all the weight of Sasuke and the Rookie Nine, and _everything_ leaves Ino’s shoulders for a moment. “Awesome. It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten to run you ragged.”

The blonde’s shoulders slump. “Greaaaaaat.”

* * *

Despite her complaints, though, Ino really enjoys training with Tenten. It wears her out, leaves her all loose-limbed and exhausted, but it’s a good feeling. Energy sparks through her, Tenten praises her every time she hits her limits and pushes beyond them, and Ino is pretty sure she’ll take all the strained muscles and bruises to make Tenten smile.

The best part is, though, is that she’s starting training with Sakura on healing, and she manages to shrink one of her bruises on her shin, much to Tenten’s awe.

So it’s a happy Ino, albeit an exhausted one, that accompanies Tenten to Ichiraku. She huffs, even as she sits down on the stool. “This is fattening, you know.”

Tenten flicks her forehead. “You need it! Ichiraku is good and has lots of nutrients, protein, and fat you need to burn off.”

Ino puffs out her cheeks. “It’s delicious, but still…”

Tenten flicks her again. “My treat! Eat your yummy fattening foods!”

They bicker, and Ino is munching on her miso ramen when Shikamaru whistles at her. She looks up, mouth full of noodles, as her friend and teammate gives her a grin. “Enjoying your date~?” he teases, and Ino rolls her eyes.

Slurping down those noodles, she sticks out her tongue and blows a raspberry at Shikamaru and Chouji, who laugh, continuing on their walk together. “You _wish_ you were on a date with Tenten!” she rebukes, even though she’s 99% sure Shikamaru is gay, and he waves her off.

Tenten’s chopsticks hit the counter with a clatter.

Startled, Ino jerks around. Her friend is staring at Ino in almost-horror, wide-eyed. “Um… Tenten?” Ino prompts tentatively, trying to treat her as one would a cornered animal.

“This… is a date?” Tenten rasps, and Ino feels her heart sink.

She knew that Tenten didn’t think of them as dates, and Ino didn’t _really_ (it really only counted as a date, in her opinion, if both people thought of it was one), she had just been joking with Shikamaru, but gods if Tenten was that-

The other girl laughs, a little hysterically. “I’m just as weird as the rest of my team!”

Ino’s brain screeches to a halt. “Uh. What?”

Tenten laughs again, wide-eyed and clutching at her head. “This is a date! We’ve been dating! My dating life is training and I _still didn’t realize it!_ Oh my god! My dating is _training_ and I’m _worse than Neji!_ He’d at least know he was _on_ a date!”

Very, very carefully, the blonde presses her lips together. She won’t laugh at her friend. She won’t. She absolutely won’t. “I dunno, Tenten, I think training is pretty normal for a shinobi date.”

It doesn’t work. Tenten is beyond the point of comfort. “Not so hard that you make your date throw up!” Ino has to give her that one. It’s true. “I’m just as weird as the rest of my team! God! Does this make you my girlfriend?” Her face pales. “I threw shuriken at you today. I _threw weapons at my girlfriend._ Gai-sensei is going to be _proud.”_ She whispers the last like it’s a sin, like she has screwed up at life by this fact, staring blankly ahead.

Ino can’t help it. She bursts into laughter as Tenten sinks in her seat, burying her face in her arms. The tips of her ears are crimson, but Ino can’t pay much attention as she _cries_ from laughter, laughing and laughing until her sides hurt and she can finally catch her breath.

Teuchi’s emerged from the back. “Is… everything alright?” the old man asks cautiously, looking between Tenten – head still buried in her arms, not even twitching – to Ino, tears in her eyes as a grin so big it’s painful sits on her face.

The younger genin nods. “H-Heh, yeah! Tenten and I are dating now, I guess!”

Probably too used to the strange ways of shinobi, he doesn’t ask any more details, just giving her a smile. “Well, this meal’s on the house, then.”

Ino grins. “In that case, can I get another?” As the old man disappears into the back, the blonde takes another slurp of noodles, patting Tenten on the back. “C’mon, _girlfriend._ Enjoy your fattening noodles. They’re free.”

Tenten just groans.


End file.
